


Something Magical

by clippedwingsandshotguns



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Street Magic, javid - Freeform, mentioned sprace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 05:38:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13001010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clippedwingsandshotguns/pseuds/clippedwingsandshotguns
Summary: Alternatively titled: Jack Kelly, Pick-up ArtistJack Kelly isn't very enthusiastic about how he's spending his afternoon, because a certain asshole, whose name rhymes with 'haystack' has managed to ruin it for him. Well, performing street magic isn't the worst way to waste the day away, he supposes. And anyways, the top hat is kind of cool.





	Something Magical

**Author's Note:**

  * For [davey_gaycobs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/davey_gaycobs/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE A GOOD DAY HAVE A GREAT DAY i hope you have the best 18th year of being alive because you deserve it and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH you're such a lovely and dear friend!! Enjoy the fic my darling........flesh stalk.................

Jack Kelly is an artist. He uses paints and makes sketches and he does these things well. Unfortunately for him, his best friend happens to be an asshat named Racetrack who enjoys making the most ridiculous bets and wagers and, since they’re both barely making ends meet, it was almost always their prides on the line. The last bet had been won by Jack and had resulted in Race having to borrow an outlandishly bright jester’s costume from their school’s drama department, and wear it for the rest of the day while feigning complete unawareness about how silly he looked. After that, Race got his revenge when Jack hadn’t managed to down a whole bottle of ketchup in 20 seconds which was why Jack was out here on the street with some cards, a top hat, some gloves, and a cape.

Since Race is dating Spot, and Spot and Jack practically grew up together, Race managed to get hold of some embarrassing information about Jack’s childhood, which was the basis for this particular wager’s penalty. Unfortunately for Jack, Spot knew about his pre-teen phase where he was obsessed with learning to do magic tricks, thinking that it would do well in impressing acquaintances and potential love interests. Needless to say, Spot managed to talk him out of embarrassing himself completely in high school by telling him that it was a terrible idea. It was especially good advice, since some of Jack’s magic tricks required doves or birds of some sort, which, in hindsight, would probably be a bad idea to have brought to class. Still, there wasn’t much to be said about how well people would have reacted to a goofy thirteen-year-old whose standard introduction would be “pick a card, any card,” while showing up at school with a top hat and white gloves. Fortunately for Jack’s social reputation, he’d taken Spot’s advice and dropped the Mysterious Magician persona he had planned on taking on, and a few years down the road, he came to realise that he probably owed Spot big-time for that.

But that help came at the cost of his pride now, years later, as Jack stands on a sidewalk in New York during winter, dressed ridiculously in the tackiest magician’s outfit ever, featuring a top hat and a matching cape, both with bright glittery stars on them. The penalty that Race had set had been, verbatim, “You’re gonna have to wear your magician stuff – which I know you have – and keep doing street magic until people give you like, 20 dollars.” Race did not account for the fact that Jack’s Junior Magician Costume would have been way too small for him at this point, and while his top hat still fits, the same couldn’t exactly be said about the cape. If worn correctly and tied around his neck, the cape would only reach a little bit past his waist. So instead, Jack had safety pinned the cape to the shoulders of his black vest (worn over a white shirt, since he is a professional), and it managed to at least go past his… derriere.

By this point, Jack hasn’t been out in the streets for too long, and he’s managed to accumulate seven dollars. He managed to get $3 from the trick where he had an audience member sign a card, placed it in his deck for shuffling, and then, literally spat out the signed card. Usually, families would be much more willing to stop, since kids were easily baffled by these things and then their parents would be more inclined to leave him a dollar or two, to look generous in front of their kids. It’s not the worst thing he’s done because of some bet, he thinks, except that it’s pretty cold, and he’s gotten more than a few condescending looks from some college students who seem to be around his age.

Right now, more than ever, Jack Kelly really, really regrets how silly he must look, because a few feet away, there’s a tall, dark haired young man who should be about his age, dressed in a dark blue coat and he’s gorgeous. Ordinarily, he’d be pretty pleased to spot someone this good-looking, but he can’t exactly go up to the man with any of his usual confidence while he’s dressed like a bad excuse for a magician. Instead, he tries to avoid being spotted by the man – nearly impossible, given his sparkly accessories – and tries to show off his tricks to some other passers-by. It’s just his luck that everyone but the man just ignores him, and Jack has to try really hard not to be any more embarrassing than he already looks when the man approaches him. But then, Jack thinks to himself, “go big or go home.”

Since he’s already doing street magic, he figures he might as well jump on the rare occasion that a person this attractive is showing interest in him. Making eye contact with the stranger, who seems a little shy, Jack calls the man over with a confident grin. “D’ya wanna see somethin’ magical?”

A little reluctantly, the man steps towards Jack and says ‘sure’, giving him a polite smile. With a bit of flair, Jack makes a rose appear out of thin air and presents it to the man. As he offers it to the man, bowing slightly, he says “I figured it’d be a waste if I didn’t get flowers for the most attractive man I’ve seen all day.”

The man’s face goes pretty red at that, and he lets out a small laugh. Accepting the rose, he raises an eyebrow and says, “That’s flattering, but that was a pretty obvious trick. I appreciate the rose, though.”

“Skeptical, ain’t ya?” Jack asks. “What’s ya name?”

“David…well, Davey.”

“Alright, ‘David well Davey’, I’m sure one of my tricks’ll impress ya.”

“I doubt it,” Davey says, just a little bit smugly, “but you’re free to try.”

For some reason, Davey is actually pretty good at discerning the exact the secret behind each of his tricks. When Jack cuts a dollar note straight down the middle and reveals that the note is perfectly fine, Davey watches with only mild interest and his arms crossed before quickly revealing the secret behind how it’s done. Jack is frustrated, impressed and very interested in Davey at this point. After that, Jack borrows a dollar from Davey and he manages to make a pen go right through it without leaving a single mark on it, but Davey is apparently as clever as he is beautiful, and he explains the trick back to Jack with little effort. He has a rather amused look on his face, that he tries to keep polite, as Jack gets visibly frustrated and a little disheartened that he’s seeing through all his tricks. The card tricks don’t seem to trip him up either, and Davey somehow knows what can be done with some sneaky shuffling methods. In the midst of all this, a crowd has gathered to watch the conversation between the illusive and poorly-dressed street magician, and the seemingly all-knowing skeptical audience member.

“How d’ya even know all that?” Jack asks, both in frustration and in genuine curiosity.

“I got really obsessed with learning how magic tricks work, once. I ended up almost pulling two all-nighters because of it,” Davey says, a little embarrassed by the fact.

Jack can’t help but to laugh at this – it’s an amusing, and somehow endearing, reason to be this knowledgeable about street magic. “Alright, alright, smart guy. C’mon, hands up, yeah?” he says, grabbing both of Davey’s hands and placing them face-down between them. Davey complies wordlessly, and even though he’s blushing from the unexpected touch, the look on his face shows that he’s skeptical that this trick will trip him up any more than the last one.

“Alright, what’re ya – left or right-handed?”

“Left-handed.”

“Yeah? Well then put down ya right hand, then put your left hand into a fist,” Jack says. Davey does as he’s told, and forces himself not to roll his eyes.

“Now, watch this,” Jack says, before opening up a Sharpie and drawing a tiny ‘x’ on his hand. “Ya see this?” he asks, before noticing the curious crowd that has gathered, and showing his arm to a few of the nearer audience members. He pockets the Sharpie first, before looking to the crowd with a confident smirk on his face. “Now, I’m gonna just pick up this cross–“ Jack pinches at the skin where the tiny cross is drawn, and it comes off almost immediately, “-and I’m gonna sprinkle it over…here.” He makes a sprinkling motion over Davey’s closed fist. The crowd is now visibly reacting, excited and expectant to see what happens.

“Alright, now open ya fist up and take a look,” Jack says, confident.

As expected, a small ‘x’ is visible on the palm of Davey’s hand. The crowd becomes noisy with amazed gasps and overlapping questions, all variations of “How did he do that?!” For the first time since their meeting, Davey looks perplexed.

“Well, can ya explain that one, smart guy?” Jack says, teasingly. The lack of an immediate response is telling enough. As most of the crowd starts to disperse, pleasantly surprised that the skeptical audience member is as baffled as the rest of them, a few of them leave bills into the little box that Jack has left out. It totals up to $23, which means that the bet is finally over.

Glancing around at the remnants of the crowd that stay expectantly for more, Jack says “It’s time for me to take my leave, so thank you all very much!” What’s left of the crowd leaves as well, as he takes off his cape, gloves and top hat and shove them into a duffel bag, along with the box he’s been collecting money in. When he looks up, bag on his shoulder, he notices that Davey is still standing there. “Can I getcha something, Davey?” he asks, teasing.

“How did you do that last one?”

“If I told ya that, I’d be out of a job here!” Jack jokes, before winking and walking towards where he knows the nearest café is – it’s cold and he wants a hot drink. Davey shadows him as he does this.

“Jack, c’mon!”

Jack turns around to Davey, and stands a little too close to him than what’s probably socially acceptable. Dialling his charm up to 100, Jack smirks as he gently cups Davey’s cheek with one hand. He then caresses Davey’s cheek for a moment, before pulling the rose from before out from behind Davey’s ear, and holding it out to him again. Grinning, he says “A magician never reveals his tricks.”

At this point, Davey is extremely red, and extremely baffled, not only because he has a pretty hot stranger hitting on him with cheap tricks, but also due to the fact that said stranger refuses to tell him how he did that damn trick. While he recovers from Jack’s proximity and open flirtations, Jack has already continued to walk away at a leisurely pace, apparently enjoying this interaction. Honestly, Davey admittedly can’t tell whether he wants to chase Jack down for his answer or for his number, but both are pretty damn good reasons, so he jogs to catch up with Jack again.

“If you’re not going to tell me, at least give me your number,” Davey insists.

“Woah, there! All this for just a magic trick?” Jack teases, despite the fact that he’d been hoping for exactly this.

“No! Well, not really, anyways. It’s just, you’re really– I just kinda thought that you, would maybe want to– I, uhm– you’re really nice and you look nice? I mean–“ Davey trips on his words. He’s not exactly the kind to just ask someone out on a whim like this, but the very attractive magician gave him a rose and was easy to talk to in a way that strangers never were, and on top of that, Davey still wasn’t entirely sure how the Sharpie trick had worked, and so it was reason enough to try and at least befriend the man.

“Yeah, yeah, I getcha,” Jack says, interrupting Davey’s fragmented monologue. He hands Davey his phone, with the screen showing the page for adding new contacts, and Davey gratefully takes it. “I was really hoping that you’d ask, anyways. But after all that,” Jack says, gesturing vaguely to the rose, “I figured that you’d say something if you were interested.” Grinning, he adds, “And I didn’t want ya saying you’d go out with me just to find out how I did the trick.”

Davey laughs at this, and he hands back the phone. Jack calls the contact for a second, so that the number shows up on Davey’s own phone, and Davey can save it later. Davey thanks him for this, and Jack tells him that he’ll text Davey later, and they say their goodbyes. He watches as Davey starts to walk away.

“Wait,” Jack calls out, suddenly. “Look, I know I’ve got your number and whatever, but I’m about to get some coffee. D’ya... maybe wanna join me?”

Davey lights up at this, and answers, “I’d love to.”


End file.
